Hannah Darabi’s project WHY DON’T YOU DANCE? is inspired by the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, a recent nationwide protest against the restrictive laws imposed on women by the Iranian government. By combining photographs, video stills and archival pieces, the book is divided into three sections, each centering on a pivotal figure from the Iranian popular dance scene. The parts function independently while also connecting to the others across time and between Iran and its diaspora.

Mahvash, a leading cabaret figure of the 1950s, forms the foundation of the project. Drawing on The Secrets of Sexual Fulfillment (1957), Mahvash’s fictional biography, Darabi examines how dance functioned as a tool of protest during the 1979 Revolution, and how women’s appearance and self-expression became subject to ever-tighter controls. She produces her own take on this landmark book through a series of collages in which she assembles magazine pages, fragments of text, ephemera and her own photographs. The second figure is Jamileh, a renowned exponent of belly dance and “Jaheli dance,” a popular style rooted in Iranian urban culture. The third section of the exhibition revolves around Mohammad Khordadjan, a dancer and choreographer from the Iranian pop scene in Los Angeles. Here, Darabi turns to the diaspora and to practices developed in exile, documenting the nights at the legendary Cabaret Tehran, a central gathering place for Iranians in Southern California.

Drawing on the stories of these three figures, Darabi reveals how dance has endured through a shift in Iranian society – away from traditional gender norms and toward a more modernist discourse. Here, entertainment becomes a political act, archives become tools of resistance, and performance becomes an expression of joyful resilience.

Hannah Darabi was born in 1981 in Tehran. She studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts in her native city before continuing her education at Université Paris 8 Vincennes–Saint-Denis. Now based in Paris, she focuses mainly on her country of origin, exploring its social, cultural and political dynamics through images, videos and archive materials. In 2022, Darabi was awarded the Bernd and Hilla Becher Award by the City of Düsseldorf for her entire artistic output. The following year, she received the Prix de la Photo Madame Figaro for her exhibition at the Rencontres d’Arles. Her writings and works are held in various public and private collections. WHY DON'T YOU DANCE is Hannah Darabi’s first publication with Kodoji Press.